Paul Magrs and Stuart Douglas had the idea of putting together a collection to show support and raise some funds to help out. A veritable cornucopia of writers have rallied round to provide stories. Here’s the full line-up:

I first encountered this line-up in “Doctor Who and the Daleks” – David Whitaker’s brilliant novel adaptation of the original Dalek story. It was a much-read book for me as a kid, and I think for that reason they all seem to be very vivid and distinct characters in my imagination. Deus Ex Food Machine is an affectionate interlude that takes place between some of their adventures. Here’s a tiny sample:

I sat on the couch in the TARDIS lounge, my fingers picking at the bindings on my leather gauntlets.

“Here, let me –” said Barbara.

I offered a smile of thanks.

The Doctor was as brisk and blithe as ever. For such an old man, it often seemed to me he recovered surprisingly quickly from our various trials and excursions. “I fancy we could all do with some dinner,” he announced. “Venusian Night Fish for me.”

“Of course, Grandfather.” Susan crossed to the food machine, and started tapping buttons.

“Wait a minute, child! I haven’t given you the code.” The Doctor drew a diary from his pocket and began to leaf through the pages. “No, no, no… Ah, yes! That is it. X L 4 2 8 5 J… Or could that be a ‘K’? Dear me. Whoever wrote this had the most appalling handwriting…”

Susan waited obediently. She had long since memorised the sequence for all the old man’s favourites, but she would never have hurt his pride by pointing that out.